The Vatican & Tennis

It wasn’t a “holy pilgrimage”, but it was still a moving experience.  The very cool thing about Rome is that there is so much to see – I would probably take 2 weeks to a month to see all that there is to see – and that would not account for going inside anything.  There are a ton of interesting museums and other places that hold historical treasures of one kind or another.  Despite the fact that I enjoy the smaller cities and the pace of life in the country, Rome offers so much history and architecture that it deserves its own category when it comes to travel.  However, one has to embrace city life at least a little, or this city can overwhelm you like a kid from Kansas visiting NYC for the first time. 

 

Yesterday I decided to go and “see the Vatican”.  Well, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed St. Peters Square (Piazza di San Pietro) and the Basilica, but I did not see the Sistine Chapel or the Vatican Museum where all of the art treasures are.  Even though I left just about an hour after sunrise, there were lines to get into the Museum and Chapel blocks and blocks long.  It appeared that the first 50 people or so must have slept outside over night.  There was no way I was waiting in a line that long by myself – yikes!  However, the Basilica and the square were awesome to say the least.  Being frugal minded and all, I saved 3 euro and walked the 300+ steps to the top of the copula (instead of taking the elevator) for some really amazing views and photos of the city.  The scale was something to behold, and hard to really “capture” on film – but the pics will give you a little bit of an idea.  I was so glad I went as early as I did, because by the time I came back to the first floor, it was wall to wall people.  When I entered, it was almost empty.  This was definitely worth seeing, and someday I might wait in that line… but I doubt it.  Me and waiting just don’t go together :-). 

 

After my first couple of days, I settled into a routine where I would make the ride down the monster hill, get a schedule of tennis matches for the day, and fit in my “bike touring” and people watching in between matches.  I didn’t want to spend every available moment riding around and taking pictures, so for at least 3 hours a day I would sit at an outside café, write my updates, go through some pictures, listen and try to understand the local conversations, and just watch daily life as it is in the “suburbs” of Rome.  My Italian still has a long way to go.  I seem to recognize 75% of the words spoken, but I can’t decipher the meaning all the time.  When I speak, about 25% of the time they will respond to me in English – a great blow to my ego of course, as it seems like they are saying – “ah, you’re a stupid American who can’t speak Italian good enough to understand”.  However, Marzia (my Italian teacher and guide for the first half of the trip) assured me it wasn’t my Italian, but that Italians are always looking for opportunities to practice their English.  Although she was quite insistent that this is the case, my feelings are that this may only account for half of it, and the other half is what I dread – that I sound like an American who hasn’t really learned the language yet.  In fact, I find speaking the language a lot like surviving the traffic here – if you hesitate or stutter as you begin speaking, your toast – they will immediately begin speaking English (those that are bilingual, which is not as many as you might think); you’ve lost your opening.  SO…as I learn to speak more confidently, I am conducting more conversations in Italian, than corrections in English. 

 

Each time I come, while I progress a little further, I am always reminded of how much further I have yet to go.  Marzia tells me I have to stop “translating” in my head, and start “thinking in Italian”.  However, I’ve learned there really is no way to just simply do that without being here for some time.  I’m now starting to understand what she is trying to tell me, but it is because I am hearing how people use the language, their patterns of speech and the ways they use certain expressions.  It is becoming more expected to hear certain things, and so I think if I were able to live here for a few months, I could probably begin to “think in Italian”.  Gee, I wonder if Tele-Tracking is ready to open an office over here yet :-)??

 

On the Tennis front, my “dream final” of Nadal vs Federer was spoiled by an “local” Italian player who had a run of matches where he played “out of his mind”.  He upset multiple different seeds, and took Federer in straight sets.  While he played very well, I have never seen Roger spray balls like he did that day.  However, his dream run (and the local excitement of an Italian getting that deep into the tournament) was ended by my #3 favorite player – Fernando Gonzalez.  So, even though “perfection” was spoiled for the final, the next best thing happened, putting Nadal vs Gonzalez on center stage.  As I write this in the middle of Piazza Della Rotonda, the final will start in about 4 hours, leaving me plenty of time to do this, and enjoy a lazy Sunday morning.